Paula Deen Gets Saucy with Matt Lauer on ‘Today’

Look, cooking is sexual. Hollywood doesn’t make movies ranging from “9 ½ Weeks” to “Eat, Pray, Love” because it’s purely for sustenance. (Well, also because those films made a select few people lots of money.) So it shouldn’t be shocking to see celebrity chef/Food Network host Paula Deen, who was just named TV’s Hottest Female Chef by “Maxim” magazine, losing her composure under the “Today” show’s hot kitchen lights.

Like so many “Today” guests, Deen soldiered up for double-duty in featured segments during the 9 and 10 a.m. hours. First, she instructed Matt Lauer on how to whip some classic Southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but soon digressed into double entendres about keeping his potatoes hot and the tangy bite one gets from just the right amount of buttermilk. When Lauer declared his preference for poultry thighs, Deen purred, “I do too.”

Before long, the married mother of two was outright smothering her poor “Today” host while he tried to tamp down on some spuds, cooing and massaging his shoulders, playing up her new persona as the vixen of mixin’. Although the biggest ick-factor belonged to Lauer himself, who pointed to the completed plate of mashed and asked, “You drizzled a little extra butter on those, didn’t you? Just for me.” Ewwww.

But Deen wasn’t finished. Much as it takes a special presence to out-quirk Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, Paula was up for the task when she rounded out the final hour of “Today” just prior to 11 a.m. This time, when Kathie referenced Deen’s “Maxim” superlative, the hefty chef simply shot the camera a confident glare and gestured flirtatiously to her breasts. And not the slabs of chicken awaiting preparation. Ewwww.

We’re not sure what’s gotten into Deen, but one can only hope that Hugh Hefner wasn’t watching NBC this morning and getting any bright ideas.